There are few arenas in football that are more intimidating to play in for an opposition player than Goodison Park when Evertonians’ hackles are up.

As one of English football’s most traditional grounds these days, Goodison is often dubbed “The Grand Old Lady” but hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and when the Blues fans are fired-up then it’s time to run for cover in what becomes a bear-pit atmosphere.

The Goodison crowd don’t make noise indiscriminately. If we’re going to be brutally honest there are far too many occasions these days when matches in Walton can be a lamentably quiet experience for routine fixtures.

Opposition supporters often taunt their hosts with chants of “Shall we sing a song for you?” and “Is this a library.”

However, Saturday’s visit of Premier League champions Chelsea will not be one of those occasions and the Londoners better prepare themselves for the type of reception and wall of noise that could never be replicated at their similarly-sized Stamford Bridge home after their attempts to prise away John Stones this summer.

Here are five other notable games when the Goodison bear-pit had the opposition running for cover.

April 24, 1985: Everton 3 Bayern Munich 1

The Gwladys Street sucks in Graeme Sharp's header

Most of us now are too young to remember this one but it is of course the famous night that as Howard Kendall predicted, the Gwladys Street “sucked the ball into the Bayern net.”

Bayern’s players were all experienced European campaigners and their side included the likes of future World Cup-winning captain Lothar Matthaus but they were swatted aside by a partisan Merseyside crowd.

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The Germans even had the benefit of a crucial away goal and half-time lead but they crumbled under the bombardment both on and off the pitch as Everton hit back through Graeme Sharp, Andy Gray and Trevor Steven.

Bayern coach Udo Lattek was unhappy by the Blues aggressive approach and turned to his opposite number in the home dugout and moaned: “Mr Kendall, this is not football!”

We can’t print the reply but most of you know it.

May 7, 1994: Everton 3 Wimbledon 2

Graham Stuart at Wimbledon game

Just seven years after being crowned League Champions, the Blues were on the brink of dropping down to the second tier of English football for the first time since 1954.

Mike Walker’s side’s destiny was not in their own hands but realistically only a victory would do and they’d have to hope their relegation rivals did not win.

Known as ‘The Crazy Gang’, Wimbledon were supposedly a group of football hard men like a Premier League team with a Sunday League mentality but they were ultimately swept away by a tidal wave of emotion at Goodison.

Their injured star John Fashanu couldn’t wait to help Vinnie Jones and his team-mates off the turf at full-time as home fans spilled onto the pitch – still unaware if their side’s efforts had been enough to secure their status.

Despite only being a three-sided stadium at the time with only the skeleton of the new stand at the Park End and fans watching from the branches of trees at Stanley Park, BBC’s Match of the Day declared that Everton’s struggling side were given a welcome “fit for champions” from their fans who were unaware if they’d come to celebrate “or see their team buried.”

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The Blues came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 and when recalling his FA Cup winner 20 years on in May, Paul Rideout told the ECHO: “We talk about the FA Cup but my biggest memory will always be when we played Wimbledon to stay up the year before.

The FA Cup is all-important and it was a great day but I’ve never known an atmosphere like that when we were playing against Wimbledon.

“We were 2-0 down after 20 minutes and needed to win the game to stay up.

“It was so loud but after 20 minutes it was even louder. They kept with us and that’s what won it.

“If they’d just have died down like a lot of fans do and slunk off then we wouldn’t have won that game.

“It was amazing and the biggest thrill that I take away with me is that game.”

April 20, 2005: Everton 1 Manchester United 0

A decade on from his first Goodison winner over the Red Devils, Duncan Ferguson repeated the trick with another header in front of the Gwladys Street.

The morale-boosting victory kept the Blues on course for their only Premier League top four finish to date and above neighbours Liverpool in the table.

David Moyes recalls the night by saying: “I thought it was a proper game. I thought it was a game where everybody was into it.

“There was a real tempo to it and I think it was the sort of game that everybody has been waiting a while to see.

“It was an incredible atmosphere. I thought it was one of the best nights I’ve had at Goodison regarding the crowd. It was terrific.

“The fans were all right behind us and they can see how much the players are giving. We’re doing the best we can and if we keep doing it for the rest of the season then hopefully we’ll get some reward for it.”

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Tim Howard was Manchester United’s goalkeeper that night and witnessing Goodison in full voice helped persuade him to join the Blues a year later.

Despite playing their home games at English football’s largest club stadium, visiting boss Sir Alex Ferguson bemoaned the intimidating Goodison atmosphere and said: “Everton fought and hunted down every ball. They had that big crowd behind them and we got no protection.”

Ferguson trotted out a similar mantra in August 2012 when a Marouane Fellaini header at the Street End was enough to down his side in the season’s opener as he moaned: “It’s difficult here, you have the crowd influencing the referee all the time.”

The Blues were resounding winners on the night but it was a turbo-charged evening that ended in glorious failure for Moyes’ men as with this UEFA Cup last 16 tie deadlocked at 2-2 on aggregate they lost the resulting penalty shoot-out 4-2.

As bad as Everton had been in the first leg in Tuscany, they were good here when spurred on by their vociferous home support.

The Italian players’ legs turned to spaghetti as the Blues went at them from the start, backed by their snarling fans.

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Although the job was only half-done at the break with Everton leading 1-0 on the night through Andrew Johnson’s 16th minute goal, the home side were given a huge ovation normally reserved for victories as they went off for the break.

A Mikel Arteta blockbuster levelled the tie in the second half but despite threatening to run riot as they pegged their opponents back with constant waves of attacks, a crucial third goal could not be found.

In the end, Evertonians were again left with the feeling of ‘what might have been’ as their conquerors were subsequently knocked out by a very ordinary Rangers side manager by former Blues boss Walter Smith who ultimately made it all the way to the final in Manchester before being beaten by a Zenit St Petersburg team who Moyes’ men had defeated at Goodison in the group stage.

January 31, 2012: Everton 1 Manchester City 0

Darron Gibson

While it’s not quite the rivalry that exists with neighbours Liverpool and Manchester United, it’s fair to say that there’s not much love lost between Evertonians and Manchester City.

When City were bad – that was most of the time before the Abu Dhabi United Group showed up with their wheelbarrows of cash – ‘The Denims’ as they’re often referred to in these parts usually found themselves being compared to the Blues of Merseyside that didn’t go down well with Evertonians whose side have still won the League five more times than them and never dropped into the third tier.

City might think it’s just jealousy from a club that used to be dubbed “The Merseyside Millionaires” under Sir John Moores’ stewardship but the Goodison crowd don’t take well to modern day football’s version of the Beverley Hill Billies from down the M62 and Joleon Lescott’s controversial move in 2009 didn’t help.

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Under the famous Goodison lights, Blues fans were well up for City’s visit on a night they paraded new signing Nikica Jelavic.

While the Croatian striker watched from the stands, a boisterous home support cheered Everton on to a 1-0 victory over the table-toppers and that season’s eventual Premier League champions with a goal from former Manchester United man Darron Gibson.

Their ire was also directed at a pitch invader who delayed the match for five minutes by handcuffing himself to one of the goalposts at the Park End.